A Tremendous Shock

When a person is truly surprised, they lose what is most important to them as a Magus.

Mana? No. Composure? Try again. Their voice? Close.

The correct answer is—their vocabulary.

 

In the sky was the thing Rin pointed out.

It was the hole halfway up the mountain, still there from all those years ago.

"No way, isn't that a bit much!?"

"It'll be fine~. Mentor can definitely manage it."

She was talking about me drilling a straight line through the ground with my breath in order to build the waterway.

"He was able to put that hole in a mountain, so making a ditch should be easy peasy, right?"

"No, it absolutely wouldn't be!"

It's true that it would be much easier than digging it manually. Not like it wouldn't be dangerous, though.

Going through with that to make the ditch would definitely melt through any rock and dirt that gets hit by my flames.

In the small chance I hit a person, though, they'd have no chance to survive it.

There was also the issue of me getting the angle correct. It wasn't so hard to hit the broad side of a mountain, but managing to no blow my breath down too far to avoid making it a hole would be difficult. I'm not sure how deep the ground goes in this world, but I don't think I'd accidentally manage to get down to the magma layer, right?

I don't actually think I could, of course, but it's best if I don't undervalue how strong fire dragons are. I know that from experience.

"Wouldn't it be fine if you do it from below then?"

After hearing me explain my worries, Tia responded very matter-of-factly.

"From below?"

"I can dig a biiiiig hole for you to go into, Mentor!"

When I looked over everyone to see if they knew what she was talking about, Lufelle raised her fists.

… I see, so all I need to do if fire my breath from below the surface and aim upward, huh?

True, there's no chance of my accidentally drilling down too far that way.

"But that doesn't reduce the danger.. If someone were to get in the way…"

"I'll tell everyone about it. No one in the grasslands will get in the way."

Luka declared in a positive tone.

Given that she's usually a cautious and responsible person and she still said that, she was probably confident in herself being able to do it.

"But what if my breath routes toward where you have people run to, Luka?"

"I'll take care of that from the sky, don't worry!"

Saying that, Rin rustled through her satchel and took out a red-covered book.

"If you do it from here and aim toward here, I think it should work out."

What was drawn on it was a map so elaborate that it was incomparable to the ones we'd been using.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Huh? I made it myself!"

She'd probably copied what she saw by looking down from above in the sky.

Rather than a map, it was much more like a beautiful painting. It had everything from swaying forest trees, to the lingering trails through the grasslands, to the rivers flowing here and there, even trees dotting the landscape in various places—it was drawn with exquisite realism.

And most importantly, it corresponded perfectly to what I knew to be true.

It was practically an aerial photograph. With this, we should definitely be able to attain considerable accuracy here.

"Still… even if we don't mistake where I aim, I'm not too confident in how much power I should put into it."

"Couldn't you just use the same incantation as back then, word for word?"

When I spoke, Nina answered with that. Although she had no change in her expression, her eyes seemed to sparkle as if she were making fun of me.

[Sorry, Nina.]

What had come from her mouth was in Elvish. Right. Back then, Darg, who I was confronting, didn't know Japanese, so we were speaking in Elvish.

[Well then, this girl here is mine. Yeah?]

[Of course not.]

Wait, you're going that far!? Nina had even changed her voice and was replicating the conversation between Darg and I by herself.

[Hah. It's a fight then?]

[Yeah, we'll do just that.]

"I know, I know, I know!"

I shouted in frustration. Honestly, that whole thing is a part of my shameful past.

Nina must have also known that, given that she went out of the way to reproduce the conversation so thoroughly.

"If you know it'll work, do it!"

Saying that, I changed into my dragon form.

"The hole hasn't been dug yet."

"I'm not saying I'll do it right now. I just think I should practice first."

There's only ever been one time I fired my breath at full strength, and that was during my fight with Darg.

I have zero confidence I'll be able to replicate it exactly.

"… You've gotten much larger since then, too."

Looking over my body, Nina spoke with some reproach.

"It's not like I had any say in it, my body just gets bigger on its own."

Even though I've been living in my human form practically the entire time, my dragon form has been growing as normal. Thanks to that, it felt a bit weird to transform back into my actual body for the first time in a while since it was so much bigger.

… Well, Nina practically hasn't grown at all. Not like I'm going to say anything even close to that though…

Looking to the much younger Aqua, it was easy to understand that it was Nina's own personal characteristic, not something of the Elven race. I felt a sharp glare pierce into me as I was thinking about that, so I quickly turned my gaze to the sky.

Serious breaths are no joke. That cylindrical hole is evidence of that. I shouldn't affect anything if I shoot it straight up, though.

There were many clouds in the sky and a gentle breeze was caressing my face.

… Come to think of it, the weather is the same as that day's.

"That which is more red than my scales, which is even stronger than my fangs, which holds more heat than my blood, and which shines stronger than my eyes—"

Nina looking at me with her eyes open in shock, Ai gazing at me anxiously, bound with rope. Darg smiling at me, seeming as if he looked down on me through and through.

The scene played through my mind.

I was as frightened as I could be back then… but seeing the various Swordsaints through the years, it was easy to see why. Honestly, I was lucky that Darg gave me the opportunity he did. Though if Yutaka had the same chance, he would have easily defeated Darg and rescued them.

Well, Darg is the founder of the Swordsaints, so it's not like that could have been possible.

"The spear that singes all, the sword that destroys all, the arrow that pierces all, and the hammer that smashes all—"

My memory of that event growing ever more lucid, I began to recall how the wind blew against my body, how it seemed to speak and play in my ears, the sound of burning smoke in the village—all things I paid little heed to at the time.

And then, I even began to recall the burning anger in my chest.

I realized it was the only time I had ever felt so much anger.

"Bundle yourself, wind tightly and bore through creation, create a blinding flash of light—"

It was a mysterious feeling. I didn't feel angry at all, nor did I have a reason to.

Even so, something in my chest stirred as I unearthed the memory.

I felt something kindle within me. Just one more step—

"Your name is—"

The tips of my nails can just barely touch it and—

"Dragon Breath."

And then it vanished.

Together with that feeling of loss, a flame erupted from my throat and pierced the heavens.

The moment the fiery red pillar touched the clouds, they scattered as if trying to flee. Chasing the clouds away and dying the sky red, the flame continued letting out a thundrous roar.

The nearby air and ground trembled as the scattered clouds began shaking and spraying lightning every which way. Innumerable fissures of light came from every cloud in all directions. If someone said the world was ending, others would have been inclined to agree.

Screams rose up from the village as we gazed up at the spectacle in blank amazement and terror.

Fortunately, the chaos didn't reach the surface. A large majority of the lightning dissipated as the clouds stopped roiling about and dispersed. Shortly after, all that could be seen was the pale blue sky.

"… The sky… isn't going to fall, right…?"

The one to speak so timidly was Tia.

Not a single person was able to dismiss it as an absurd fear.

 

＊　＊　＊

 

When I woke up with a start, I couldn't see Nina, who should have been sleeping next to me.

A boy and girl sharing a bed without being a couple could be thought of as a bit off, but neither me nor Nina minded that at this point. Let alone beds, we didn't even have bedrolls or houses back in the primitive age, so we tended to sleep close to each other when laying down for the night. That custom continued even up till now. Though well, when I was with Ai or Yuuki, Nina was mindful enough to stay in another house.

"Ooh…"

When I exited the house to look for Nina, I unintentionally let out a noise when I saw the starry sky.

This world's night cycle was short, so people would tend to fall asleep immediately once the sun set. There was usually no chance to gaze upon it with everyday life being how it was. That being the case, seeing a cloudless night sky was a rare thing.

… Though I suppose the sky looking like this is my fault, isn't it? The clouds hadn't reappeared from my breath scattering them yet. How much effect did that breath end up having?

After that happened, by common consent, we decided to put off plans to build the waterway using my breath for the time being. None of us could imagine what might happen if I aimed something like that at the ground. Honestly, we might just have to do it bit by bit.

"Ah… Mentor."

I heard a small voice from in front of me.

The one looking up at the moon from there wasn't Nina, but Aqua.

Come to think of it, Nina said something about the full moon, didn't she? I wonder if this is related?

"Hey, Aqua. What are you up to on a night like this?"

Elves, a race that lived primarily in forests, had frighteningly good night vision. They could practically see just as good in moonlight and starlight as they could during the day. Yet even so, it seemed off to see her out.

"Well… I was just looking at the moon…"

As if remembering something, Aqua turned her eyes to the ground. I can't see her just looking at the moon for no reason.

"If there's something you're worried about, I could lend my ear. I am your teacher, after all."

Sitting down on the grass next to her as I spoke, it seemed there actually was something. Leaving a bit of space between us, Aqua sat demurely on the grass as well.

"Well… there is."

"Uh huh."

"I… well, that idiot monkey… Yutaka…"

"Uh huh."

"I mean, well… how do I…? Well… I-I said I… l-like… him."

"Uh huh…"

What!? The!? Heck!? I wanted to shout, but I held it in. Barely.

"S-So you already knew…"

"… Well, maybe a little."

Sorry, I didn't realize at all!

Despite thinking that, I kept up the facade. Still though, it rang too true. Nina had to be in on this somehow!

"I see. Is he starting to think you dislike him since you have been calling him idiot monkey?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. Yuu said he's fine with me calling him that."

"Oh, I s—ee?"

Huh? Did she just say Yuu?

This girl who's always been shouting at Yutaka is looking like she's in love… and all I can manage is to stare at her like some dolt.

"And umm, well… what's troubling me is, umm, something very different."

Come to think of it, she said that she'd already told him. I guess they've already told each other. So Yutaka and Aqua like each other? I didn't pick up on that at all.

"It's just, I don't know…"

What in the world is her issue then?

"I, well. I… might have his baby."

Seriously?